tiggersmom
New Member
Hi.
I've never posted here before, but I wanted to share what's going on with my cat in case someone else experiences something similar. My cat Tigger was diagnosed with diabetes on November 3. He had been to the vet 6 months prior and was in good health other then the fact that he has feline AIDS. I noticed he was drinking more but we had such abnormally warm weather that I thought maybe it was due to the increase in heat and temperature and that my apartment was getting really warm during the day when I wasn't at home. Well, then he rapidly lost weight and I took him to the emergency vet. He was tested and we found that he was diabetic. I immediately switched him to Wellness No Grain after reading things on this site and other sites. The vet had given me Purina D/M, but Tig didn' lke it and he didn't really eat it. He liked Wellness. He is on Lantus Insulin. So anyway, I regulated his Blood Glucose, and started feeding him only low carb food. Over the last couple of months, he has regained the four pounds he lost - he's a very muscular/solid cat at 14 pounds with no fat on him anywhere. He's playful and active again. His BG would go from 350-400 before his shot down to 120-150 during the peak of his curve, and then slowly go back to 350-400. And then two weeks ago, his Blood Glucose started to fluctuate. He went from 600 to 50-90 at the time of his shots. When his BG was low, I obviously wouldn't give him a shot. He would stay like that for up to 48 hours in the normal range (still eating normally), and then it would shoot up to 400-600. I'd give him his normal dosage at the time, and he would stay in these high levels for a couple of sticks with a normal insulin curve and then go back down again to the normal levels. This lasted about a week, and I was very concerned because I couldn't find any information on this. It was like his pancreas was kind of kicking in and out - like an engine where it kind of revs and then dies again. I was going to take him back to the vet to see why he was fluctuating. He was still eating and drinking normally. He was still playful. I switched him from Wellness with 6% carbs to Wal-Mart's Special Kitty (Chicken and Tuna Dinner) with 5% carbs after his BG was fluctuating to see if the change in food would help. For the last 6 days, his BG has been normal. He hasn't had insulin, and he's still okay with BG testing in the normal range every time I test him even after eating. I've done a curve and he's normal throughout the entire 12 hour period. He is eating normally - several cans per day. He loved the new food immediately... Has anyone else experienced this with the fluctuations and then the normal levels?
I am reservedly optimistic that maybe his diabetes is under control without insulin... Similar to how some humans can control diabetes with only dietary and exercise changes sometimes. It would be nice since I worry about infection and all of the shots/testing and his AIDS status which complicates matters.
Thanks,
Natalie
I've never posted here before, but I wanted to share what's going on with my cat in case someone else experiences something similar. My cat Tigger was diagnosed with diabetes on November 3. He had been to the vet 6 months prior and was in good health other then the fact that he has feline AIDS. I noticed he was drinking more but we had such abnormally warm weather that I thought maybe it was due to the increase in heat and temperature and that my apartment was getting really warm during the day when I wasn't at home. Well, then he rapidly lost weight and I took him to the emergency vet. He was tested and we found that he was diabetic. I immediately switched him to Wellness No Grain after reading things on this site and other sites. The vet had given me Purina D/M, but Tig didn' lke it and he didn't really eat it. He liked Wellness. He is on Lantus Insulin. So anyway, I regulated his Blood Glucose, and started feeding him only low carb food. Over the last couple of months, he has regained the four pounds he lost - he's a very muscular/solid cat at 14 pounds with no fat on him anywhere. He's playful and active again. His BG would go from 350-400 before his shot down to 120-150 during the peak of his curve, and then slowly go back to 350-400. And then two weeks ago, his Blood Glucose started to fluctuate. He went from 600 to 50-90 at the time of his shots. When his BG was low, I obviously wouldn't give him a shot. He would stay like that for up to 48 hours in the normal range (still eating normally), and then it would shoot up to 400-600. I'd give him his normal dosage at the time, and he would stay in these high levels for a couple of sticks with a normal insulin curve and then go back down again to the normal levels. This lasted about a week, and I was very concerned because I couldn't find any information on this. It was like his pancreas was kind of kicking in and out - like an engine where it kind of revs and then dies again. I was going to take him back to the vet to see why he was fluctuating. He was still eating and drinking normally. He was still playful. I switched him from Wellness with 6% carbs to Wal-Mart's Special Kitty (Chicken and Tuna Dinner) with 5% carbs after his BG was fluctuating to see if the change in food would help. For the last 6 days, his BG has been normal. He hasn't had insulin, and he's still okay with BG testing in the normal range every time I test him even after eating. I've done a curve and he's normal throughout the entire 12 hour period. He is eating normally - several cans per day. He loved the new food immediately... Has anyone else experienced this with the fluctuations and then the normal levels?
I am reservedly optimistic that maybe his diabetes is under control without insulin... Similar to how some humans can control diabetes with only dietary and exercise changes sometimes. It would be nice since I worry about infection and all of the shots/testing and his AIDS status which complicates matters.
Thanks,
Natalie
